Tea party, Dems at odds over meeting

November 1, 2013

CHARLES TOWN - After they were barred from a recent meeting of Jefferson County Democrats, members of a local tea party group are raising the question about the use of public space for private meetings.

The issue began following an Oct. 24 workshop, "Running for Office", which was hosted by the Jefferson County Democratic Association and held at the County Commission meeting room in the lower level of the Old Charles Town Library. Jefferson County Tea Party members claim they were told by Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson, a guest speaker at the workshop, that they had to leave at the beginning of the workshop because they are not registered Democrats.

During Thursday's Jefferson County Commission meeting, Peter Onoszko, a member of the tea party group who lives in Harpers Ferry, addressed the commissioners during the public comment period.

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Skinner.

"Nowhere in any of the announcements I saw was it stipulated that this event was only open to registered Democrats," he said. "I have attended other events in this room, such as the instructional session on rules and records last spring, and I assumed this to be a similar instructional session on the mechanics of elections, campaign finance and so forth."

Onoszko said he is not against political parties holding private strategy sessions, but thinks they should not be held in a public space.

According to the Jefferson County Commission Policies and Procedures regarding meeting room policy, all meetings shall be open to the public, Onoszko said. However, the use of public meeting rooms for "educational, cultural, informational or governmental/civic activies" is also set forth in the meeting room policy, as well as a list of organizations authorized to use the county's public meeting rooms.

According to county policy, "Republican and Democratic Executive Committees" are among the organizations authorized to use the meeting room.

The "Running for Office" workshop was put on by the Jefferson County Democratic Association, which is affiliated with the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee. The Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee uses the meeting room in question on the fourth Monday of each month for regular meetings.

Skinner is a member of the JCDA, and he said meetings of both the JCDA and JCDEC have been held at the county commission meeting room for at least 10 years.

"Both parties hold private meetings in public spaces, it happens every day," he said. "(At the workshop) we were talking about things private to Democrats, like how to win races, not just enter them. We have a constitutional right to do this, and I can't imagine that anyone would think that a JCDA meeting was a place for Republicans."

Dale Manuel, president of the Jefferson County Commission who was present for the workshop, used a sports analogy to explain his thoughts on the issue being raised by the tea party.

"I find it inconceivable that someone would believe they could go to a strategy session for Democratic candidates and sit in and take notes and use the information to try to gain an advantage over the opposing party," Manuel said. "It's a little bit like the Jefferson football coach inviting the Washington football coach over and explaining the strategies of how they're going to play the football game."

Manuel also mentioned that the JCDEC does hold its regular meetings at the county commission meeting room and is allowed to do so under county statutes. He believes the ordeal to be an orchestrated effort on the part of the tea party group.

"The way I see this, the tea party is trying to do the same thing in Jefferson County they did at the national level," Manuel said. "They're driving that wedge so that Democrats and Republicans can't compromise for middle ground. I think that's some of their agenda."

Skinner and other members of the state legislature received an email forwarded from Patricia Rucker, the tea party group's leader, dated Oct. 26, explaining what happened in Jefferson County at the workshop.

"I would like everyone's help in making what happened known statewide," reads a portion of the email from Rucker, which Skinner forwarded to The Journal. "Here in Jefferson County we are going to make a big deal out of it, and hope to embarass the Democrats, and I am going to personally demand a public apology for being ousted from Stephen Skinner, the County Commission President and the Sheriff."

What follows in the message is a call to action, with Rucker inviting members of tea party groups to publicize the incident over social media and by writing letters to the editors of local newspapers.

"No one (at the workshop) asked for IDs or party registration, that has all been incorrectly publicized," Skinner said. "Ms. Rucker's email indicates that she wanted to use the experience to embarass Democrats."